The benefits of regular exercise range from losing weight to improved cardiovascular function to better mental health and more. While some are eager to pursue complex work-out routines and intensive physical transformation (perhaps even hiring a physical trainer), this approach is often less sustainable then building a daily routine. Remember that the most important thing is to stay healthy and active.
Building a Healthy Active Lifestyle
Building a healthy lifestyle comes down to what you do every day. This doesn’t mean you have to start spending 7 days a week at the gym, but instead, that you consciously make physical activity a part of your daily routine.
Dedicating 30 minutes a day to physical activity is enough to help maintain a healthy weight and work towards a healthier body and mind. This moderate level of activity helps prevent things like heart disease and diabetes, while reducing stress, and helping you realign the body and mind.
Remember that reducing the time you are sitting stationary while increasing your general activity level throughout the day is also beneficial. Adding strength training or stretching to your routine brings added benefits of improved flexibility and better muscle tone.
Thus, living an active lifestyle is less about “getting back to the gym” or “dieting” and more about incorporating moderate physical activity into our everyday lives. Ask yourself what steps you can take every day to increase the amount of activity in your life.
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Ten Tips for a Healthy Active Lifestyle:
- Build mild physical activity into your every day schedule (these can be simple – like household chores, walking the dog, or taking the steps over the elevator)
- Reduce the amount of time your body is stationary (sitting) during the day.
- Take joy in moving your body, be it dancing, tai chi, yoga, roller skating, or hiking. The more you enjoy the activity, the more likely you are to be consistent with it!
- Make a plan to do something active every day.
- Create a daily routine that you can stick to for the long-term.
- Dedicating just 30 minutes a day to moderate physical activity can make a world of difference if you stick to it. Make a goal to stay active every day for a month. Build healthy new habits slowly.
- Let family and friends hold you accountable as you strive towards a more active lifestyle.
- Make exercise part of your relaxation schedule or unwinding time. For example, take a bike ride for an afternoon break.
- Remember that exercise is not a competition, but a gift to yourself. Building a healthy active lifestyle is something that you do for yourself.
- Take note of small improvements: easier breathing with high-intensity activity, more flexibility and range of motion, and recovering quicker. These are all benefits of a healthy and active lifestyle.
Benefits of Exercise
Over time, an active lifestyle leads to a stronger and healthier body and mind as well as improved feelings of general well-being. You may notice that you have stronger muscles, better posture, less pain, and that your energy levels are higher during the day time. You may also find that you “bounce back” quickly after a stressful time, or that you sleep better at night.
Know that by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, you are reducing your risk of heart disease and other serious complications, prolonging your own life and allowing you to help those around you.
Maintaining a Healthy Active Lifestyle
Remember that a lifestyle is not built in a day or a week or a month or even a year—but over a lifetime. You can start today by making a commitment to increase your physical activity, but it only becomes a habit if you do it tomorrow and the day after. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you miss a day. What’s important is to return to the goal and to strive and work towards adding healthy habits that become a natural part of your daily routine.